Venetian blind



Aug. 20,1963 A. M. H. KIM 3, 01,113

VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 12', 1959- 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ALFRED M. H. KIM

Aug. 20, 1963 A. M. H. KIM

VENET'IAN BLIND F iled June 12, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ALFRED M. H- KIM -,Aug. 20, A. M. H. KIM 7 3,101,113

VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 12, 19 59 4' Sheets-Sheet 4 20 r LEE 2! FIG. /8

INVENTOR.

ALFRED M. H. KIM

d v l flmyw/m position.

Unite States Patent "ice 3,101,113 VENETIAN BLIND 7 Alfred M. H. Kim, 1249 W. 6th St, Los Angeles 17, Calif. Filed June 12, 1959, Ser. No. 819,917 4 Claims. (Cl. 160-168) This invention relates to a foldable closure for an aperture and more particularly to an improved Venetian blind closure for windows, doors and the like having distinct advantages over known Venetian blind structures.

A common form of Venetian blind in use today comprises a plurality of slats maintained in horizontal, parallel relationship by a pair 01f spaced, parallel cloth tapes vertically disposed at each end of the slats and secured to an overhead housing. Each parallel pair of tapes has a plurality of spaced transverse cloth members sewn thereto and each transverse member supports one end of a slat. By pulling on the cords of the blind, the front or the back tape member ismoved vertically and there is corresponding movement of all of the slats from a totally closed (substantially vertical) position to a totally open (substantially horizontal) position.

Among the principal drawbacks for these known Venetian blind structures, besidesthe fact that [the cloth tapes are readily soiled and also become worn in a short period of time and thus must be periodically replaced, is that all of the. slats move simultaneously, corresponding to the movements of the tapes, so that it is impossible to have certain of the slats in an open (horizontal) position and the remainder of the slats in the closed (vertical) Thus, on a hot evening when the windows are open to let in the cool air, passage of the air into the room is blocked by the blind which has been closed to insure privacy. Still another disadvantage when cloth tapes are used in Venetian blinds is that the horizontal edges of adjacent closed (vertical) slats are not in close, abutting relationship, because of the presence of the cloth transverse members and it is virtually impossible to prevent some (transmission of light through the closed blinds.

It is an object of this invention to obviate the various disadvantages to be found in known Venetian blindstnuctures.

It is a further object of this invention to provide Venetian blind structure which permits ready movement of a predetermined number or slats from horizontal to vertical position while the remaining slats of the blind remain in a fixed position.

It is another object of this invention toprovide a Venetian blind, structure which assures an overlapping abutment of the longitudinal edges of adjacent slats when in a closed position to prevent the passage of any light through the closed blind.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a Venetian blind structure which consists of a minimum or standard parts, which is inexpensive to manufacture,

quick to assemble and easily repaired by replacing one adjacent hinge members in such a manner that the plurality of hinges on either side of the slats is adapted 3,101,113 Patented Aug. 20, 1963 one or more of the clamping members so that these mem hers and the corresponding slats no longer'respond to themovement of the cord but remain in their fixed position.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein I FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of one embodiment of the Venetian blind structune'oi the invention,

FIG. 2 is a [front elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the folding hingestructure of the invention, Y

FIG. 3 is an elevational side view, taken along lines 3-3, of the hinged structure of FIG. 2, a

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the position of the hinged str-uctureor FIG. 2 when in folded position,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hinge member,

FIG. -6 is a perspective view of a complementary hinge member, v

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lowermosthinge member of the structure of the invention illustrated in FIG. 2, 7 r.

FIG. 8'is a front elevational'view, onvan enlarged scale, of thelower left portion of the structure shown in FIG. 1, when in closed position,

FIG; 9 is a rear elevational view, on an enlanged scale, of the lower right portion of thestnucture shown in FIG. 10, in closed position,

FIG. 10 is a rear elevational view of \the structure of :the invention shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 11 is the rear view, on an enlarged scale, of an end portion of a slat illustrated in FIG. 10,

FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the slat illustrated in FIG. 11 taken along lines 12-12 thereof,

" -FIG. 13 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a clamping member for use in. the invention,

FIG. 14 is a \top plan view of the clamping member of FIG. 13,

FIG. 15- is a top plan view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 11,

similar to FIGS. 16 and 17 wherein the slats are'illustrated in both open and substantially closed positions.

As maybe seen in FIGS. 1 and 10, the Venetian blind structure of the invention comprises'a rectangular housing 1, which is to be attached to the uppermost portion of an aperlture to be covered (not shown), having a pair of downwardly depending, spaced, substantially parallel,

3 foldable units 2 and 3, each consisting of a plurality of individual hinge members 4, 5. Hinge 4-, illustrated in FIG. 5, includes a substantially rectangular, flat sheet member 6 having integral, rolled loops 7, 7' formed at its respective upper and lower edges 8, 8, with the loop 7 at the upper edge being located atone side of the hinge and the loop 7' being located on the other side. Compl mentary hinge 5, shown in FIG. 6, also includes a Substantially rectangular sheet member 9 having a pair of rolled loop portions 10, 10', and '11, :11 on its upper and lower edges, respectively, with each loop located at a corner of thehinge. Loops 10, 10 on the upper edge of the hinge are offset on one side and those on the lower edge are offset to the opposite side of the hinge. As illustrated in the drawing, the space between loops 10, 10 of hinge 5 is sufiicient to pivotally accommodate the centrally disposed loop 7" of the hinge '4 and a pin 12 pivotally locks each set of hinges 4, 5 together to form the units 2, 3. The particular construction of the units 2, 3 permits folding thereof in accordion fashion, i.e., each hinge pivots 90 in an arc opposite that of each of its adjacent hinges.

Extending between and secured to the lowermost hinges 13, 14 is a rigid bar 15'- fiorming the base of the blind structure. Ears 16, 16' extend laterally from hinges 13,

14 and have secured thereto a cord 17 which extends upwardly into the housing 1, slides over rollers 18, "18', and

'cause an upwardforce to be exerted on hinges 13, 14 and units 2, 3 will begin to fold in accordion fashion as the blind is drawn upwardly.

Between each corresponding set of hinges on folding units 2, 3, beginning with the lowermost hinges 13, 14, is mounted an elongated slat 20 adapted to be rotated in an are relative to the hinge and about the longitudinal axis of the slat. One way in which the slats may be rotatably mounted on the hinges is illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, wherein the slats 20 are provided with a centrally disposed arm 21 projecting laterally from each edge 22, 22' of the slat 20, and supported by the hinges of the units 2, 3.

Each hinge 4, 5 has a rectangular portion 23 partially stamped out of one flat surface and folded inwardly to form a socket 24 which receives and rotatably holds an arm 21 of slat 20 therein.

Slats 20 may be formed of wood, metal, plastic, or

similar rigid material and arms 21 may be integral there with or may be separably secured thereto, as by threading them into suitable openings at the sides of theslats.

To permit rotation of the slats about their longitudinal axes, each slat is provided on its back side with a clamping member 25 secured to and adjacent one end thereof. One form of clamping member is illustrated in FIG. 13 and is provided with three flexible arms, the center one 26 of which is bent in a direction opposite to that of the remaining two arms 27, 27' so as to form a small channel 28 therebetween into which a cord .29 may be removably inserted and frictionally held. Since the clamping members 25 are vertically aligned and each is secured to the cord 29, it will be readily apparent that aforce exerted on the cord 29 will cause a rotation of the slats about their longitudinal axes in response thereto.

Although one type of clamping member 25 is shown in FIG. 13, and this is provided with an arm 30 which is journaled into an enlarged area or protuberance 31 integral with the slat 20, other forms and means for securing a clamping member to the slat will be suggested to those in the art. When the cord 29 is attached to clamping member 25 on each slat, the Venetian blind structure may be operated in the conventional manner so that all of the slats will be in the closed position as shown in FIG. 16 or in the open position as shown in FIG. 17. As seen in 7 FIG. 10, cord 29 extends upwardly and about rollers 32,

37, 37' of the cord depend from one side of the Venetian blind structure. If it is desirable to open a predetermined number of the slats and let the remaining number remain closed as shown in FIG. 18, it is only necessary for the person to disengage the cord 29 from the clamping member 25 of the slats 20 which he desires to keep closed.

Since there are no cloth tapes or other obstructions between the slat areas, and the slats are of a size which permit overlapping of longitudinal edges 38, 38' of adjacent slats, the slats may be rotated to the closed (vertical) position shown in FIGS. 8 and 10 and because of the abutting longitudinal edges 38, 38, no light can pass through such edges. Thus, a complete block to the passage of light through the adjacent longitudinal edges of slats 20 is possible when the front edges of the slats are the abutting edges. If the protuberance 3'1 and clamping member 25 on the rear surface of each slat are set below the area of overlap, a light tight closure can also be obtained by having the rear longitudinal edges of the slats in abutting, vertical, relationship.

Slats 20 are made in such a manner that when they are merely supported by the sockets 24 and the clamping members 25 are free from the cord 29, the slat rotates to the closed (vertical) position as shown in FIG. 18. However, the slats can be made so that they could rotate to the horizontal position when free of the cord 29. In either event, the cord 29 would be used to control the position of the remaining slats whose clamping members 25 are in frictional engagement with the cord.

Having fully disclosed my invention, what is claimed is:

1. A Venetian blind structure comprising a housing, a pair of laterally spaced folding units. secured to and depending from said housing, each of said units comprising a plurality of hinge members successively pivotally connected and fioldable in accordion fashion, a plurality of elongated slats extending between said folding units, each of said slats having an arm projecting from each end thereof, means on each of said hinge members rotatably supporting an arm of one of said slats whereby said slats are rotatable between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position, a clamping member mounted on each of said slats displaced from the longitudinal axis of said arms, and an actuating cord removably clamped to the clamping member of each slat for actuating the slats between said vertical and horizontal positions whereby one or any desired number of selected slats may be uncl-amped from said cord and thereby be unaffected by actuation of said cord.

2. The construction defined in claim 1 further including an integral enlarged projection on each of said slats, said clamping member being rotatably supported in said projection.

3. *A Venetian blind structure comprising a housing, a folding unit depending from each end of said housing, each of said units comprising a plurality of binge members pivotally connected end to end for folding in accordion fashion, a rigid bar horizontally mounted between said units and secured to the lowermost hinge or each unit, a bearing formed on each of said hinge members, a plurality of elongated slats extending between said units, each of said slats having an arm projecting from each end thereof, each of said bearings rotatably receiving an arm of one of said slats whereby each of said slats is rotatable between a closed vertical position in which it is adapted to be in overlapping abutting engagement with adjacent vertically disposed slats, and a horizontal open position in which the slat is disposed in a plane vertically spaced from the adjacent slats for permitting the passage of light and air, a clamping member rotatably mounted on each of said slats and displaced from the axis of said arms, a cord for rotating said slats between said vertical and horizontal positions, each of said slats being removably clarnped to said cord by said clamping members whereby one or any desired number of selected slats may be removed from said cord, said selected slats thereby said housing, and a second card extending over said pulleyand having one end secured to said rigid bar whereby actuation of said second cord will cause said units to fold and unfold.

4. The Venetian blind structure :as defined in claim 2 wherein said clamping member includes a plunality of flexible fingers extending perpendicularly to the surface of the slat, said fingers forming a channel and said cord References Cited in the file of patent extending through said channel and being dirictional ly 10 2,768,680

secured by said fingers.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Fetherston Oct. 26, 1875 Broune June 20, 1916 McKinney" June 13, 1939 Slattery Mar. 17, 1942 Castilonia Nov. 27, 194 5 McIntire July 24, 1956 Seymour l Oct. 30, 1956' 

1. A VENETIAN BLIND STRUCTURE COMPRISING A HOUSING, A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED FOLDING UNITS SECURED TO AND DEPENDING FROM SAID HOUSING, EACH OF SAID UNITS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF HINGE MEMBERS SUCCESSIVELY PIVOTALLY CONNECTED AND FOLDABLE IN ACCORDION FASHION, A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED SLATS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FOLDING UNITS, EACH OF SAID SLATS HAVING AN ARM PROJECTING FROM EACH END THEREOF, MEANS ON EACH OF SAID HINGE MEMBERS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING AN ARM OF ONE OF SAID SLATS WHEREBY SAID SLATS ARE ROTATABLE BETWEEN A VERTICAL CLOSED POSITION AND A HORIZONTAL OPEN POSITION, A CLAMPING MEMBER MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID SLATS DISPLACED FROM THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID ARMS, AND AN ACTUATING CORD REMOVABLY CLAMPED TO THE CLAMPING MEMBER OF EACH SLAT FOR ACTUATING THE SLATS BETWEEN SAID VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL POSITIONS WHEREBY ONE OR ANY DESIRED NUMBER OF SELECTED SLATS MAY BE UNCLAMPED FROM SAID CORD AND THEREBY BE UNAFFECTED BY ACTUATION OF SAID CORD. 